Shanghai Renmin Electric Factory: A Century of Craftsmanship, Building Brands with Quality, Embarking on a New Journey with Digital Transformation

Shanghai Renmin Electric Factory: A Century of Craftsmanship, Building Brands with Quality, Embarking on a New Journey with Digital TransformationOn September 12th this year, the first 20Hz low-frequency, high-voltage universal circuit breaker certification ceremony was held at the Beijing headquarters of China Quality Certification Center. The appraisal committee concluded that the product's 20Hz low-frequency technology reached an international leading level and filled a gap in the field

Shanghai Renmin Electric Factory: A Century of Craftsmanship, Building Brands with Quality, Embarking on a New Journey with Digital Transformation

On September 12th this year, the first 20Hz low-frequency, high-voltage universal circuit breaker certification ceremony was held at the Beijing headquarters of China Quality Certification Center. The appraisal committee concluded that the product's 20Hz low-frequency technology reached an international leading level and filled a gap in the field. The manufacturer is Shanghai Electric Corporation's Renmin Electric Factory (hereinafter referred to as Shanghai Renmin Electric Factory), a company with a history of 110 years.

Shanghai Renmin Electric Factory, a familiar name to industry insiders, stands as the birthplace of the first circuit breaker, the first intelligent circuit breaker, and the first low-frequency, high-voltage circuit breaker since the founding of New China. Xu Ruizhong, the factory director of Shanghai Renmin Electric Factory, stated: "We are dedicated to improving quality and consistently upholding our brand with quality. Therefore, we will keep pace with the times, continuously innovate our management system, and cultivate talented teams." In his view, focusing on serving national strategies, relentlessly improving quality, and promoting industry chain upgrades are the secrets to Shanghai Renmin Electric Factory's enduring success.

A Century of Journey, Filling Multiple Industry Gaps

The history of Shanghai Renmin Electric Factory can be traced back to 1914, when it was formed by Eberhard Electric Light Company, Eberhard Battery Factory, Hongkang Electrical Materials Store, and Hongkang Electrical Equipment Factory. Initially, the factory focused on producing dry batteries, hand-cranked gramophones, telephones, switchboards, transformers, and current transformers, emerging as a pioneer in China's electrical industry.

In 1949, with the founding of New China, all industries were in need of development. In the 1950s, Shanghai Renmin Electric Factory began to design and manufacture DW0 air circuit breakers, CJ0 AC contactors, JR0 thermal relays, and QC0 electromagnetic starters. The "Shanglian" branded products gradually replaced the products that imitated those from the Soviet Union in the 1940s, making it the first low-voltage electrical appliance specialized factory in China.

"Why does the last character in the codes DW0, CJ0, and JR0 all end with '0'? Because at that time, the company did not have its own codes and used the national unified codes. This '0' holds a special meaning, representing the beginning of China's electrical appliance industry from zero," Xu Ruizhong explained.

In the 1960s, Shanghai Renmin Electric Factory developed DW10 air circuit breakers, CJ10 series AC contactors, JR16B thermal relays, and QC12 electromagnetic starters, marking a milestone in China's low-voltage electrical appliance development and signifying the first significant leap forward for domestic low-voltage electrical appliances.

In the 1980s, the introduction and development of ME series air circuit breakers, B series AC contactors, T series thermal relays, and MSB series electromagnetic starters shortened the gap with international advanced levels, marking the second leap forward for China's low-voltage electrical appliances.

In the 1990s, Shanghai Renmin Electric Factory collaborated with Shanghai Electric Science Research Institute to develop China's first RMW1 intelligent universal circuit breaker, completing a key national "Eighth Five-Year Plan" technological development project. This brought product technology levels closer to international advanced standards, marking the third leap forward for China's low-voltage electrical appliances.

In 1994, Shanghai Renmin Electric Factory became the first enterprise in the low-voltage electrical appliance industry to pass the ISO9001 quality certification system audit. Entering the 21st century, the company actively embraced new market demands. They independently developed RMW2 intelligent universal circuit breakers, RMM3 series plastic-cased circuit breakers, and RMD2 control-related electrical appliances, reaching international advanced levels.

In 2023, RMW3-6300T and RMV1-12/1250-31.5M were successfully included in the "2023 Shanghai First Batch of Innovative Product Recommendation Catalog." In 2024, the company's first 20Hz low-frequency, high-voltage universal circuit breaker once again filled an industry gap.

Facing Competition, Embracing Digital Technology Transformation

Although Shanghai Renmin Electric Factory is a state-owned enterprise, the survival pressure it faces is no less than that of private enterprises. There are over 2,000 companies in China's low-voltage electrical appliance industry. Regardless of whether they are state-owned or private, all companies operate in a fully open competitive environment. Companies lacking core competitiveness can easily be eliminated.

How to enhance the company's overall competitiveness? In recent years, Shanghai Renmin Electric Factory has implemented the "five-pronged construction": digitalization of R&D, automation of production lines, lean management of logistics, integration of information, and intelligent management. However, achieving comprehensive innovation from management mechanisms to production technology is not easy.

Shanghai Renmin Electric Factory is a key enterprise in the production of low-voltage circuit breakers, involving numerous components and worker positions. Streamlining mechanisms and technology links requires effort, and conducting reforms requires decisiveness.

"Over the past 110 years, our factory has witnessed the transformation of the industry from handicraft manufacturing to mechanical manufacturing. Now everyone is talking about digital transformation, but in reality, not many companies have fully achieved digitalized R&D. Traditional enterprises often encounter difficulties and resistance during reforms, causing 'digital transformation' to merely remain at the level of written materials," said Xu Ruizhong.

How can manufacturing companies with a long history transform towards digitalization and intelligence? Shanghai Renmin Electric Factory has few peers to learn from and can only navigate this path by trial and error.

Xu Ruizhong introduced that the company has established a project team dedicated to smart manufacturing. The team members have an average age of under 35, encouraging young people to innovate boldly. Simultaneously, the company has organized a group of experienced veterans to form an expert evaluation team, ensuring the project team can progress steadily in R&D.

Currently, production at Shanghai Renmin Electric Factory is carried out on intelligent production lines, replacing traditional production models and significantly improving efficiency. The intelligent production lines are designed with full participation from the smart manufacturing team at Shanghai Renmin Electric Factory, taking into account the company's practical application and flexible production. They boast the unique "drawer seat automatic assembly technology in low-voltage frame circuit breaker production lines," while also achieving multi-specification, multi-product mixed-line production, something that ordinary automatic production lines cannot accomplish.

"Previously, manual proficiency was highly demanding in each production link, and workers on different production lines and positions often lacked technical connections." Xu Ruizhong mentioned that the application of intelligent production lines has reduced labor intensity and liberated labor, allowing technicians more time and energy to learn new skills, ultimately improving the company's overall competitiveness.

In June of this year, Shanghai Renmin Electric Factory became one of the first batch of digital certified enterprises in Shanghai. The company has widely integrated information systems like PLM, MES, WMS, SAP, and CRM across its entire process, from R&D, production, sales, logistics, and supply chains to services, combined with advanced intelligent manufacturing equipment such as automated production lines (including AGVs and automated warehouses), achieving digitalization, automation, and intelligence in the entire production and operation process.

Serving the Nation, Emphasizing Innovation Alongside Product Quality

In 2024, "new quality productivity" has become a hot topic on the internet. Relevant researchers point out that China's intelligent manufacturing field has undergone years of development and accumulation, driving intelligent manufacturing and related industrial services to bring benefits to the industry.

For the low-voltage electrical appliance industry, with rapid development in the internet, smart grids, and renewable energy, the technology and quality requirements for low-voltage electrical appliance components and systems have escalated. Low-voltage electrical appliances are gradually transitioning towards intelligence, miniaturization, modularization, and environmentally friendly aspects, achieving groundbreaking technological advancements.

Xia Jing, senior engineer at the Digital and Information Technology Department of Shanghai Electric Group, introduced that in recent years, Shanghai Electric has focused on integrating digital technologies with industrial applications. Each business unit of Shanghai Electric actively promotes automation reform, digital transformation, and intelligent upgrading for traditional industrial industries based on its product features, design features, process features, and manufacturing features, aiming to build a more environmentally friendly, safe, intelligent, economical, and stable industrial system.

As a member of Shanghai Electric Group, Shanghai Renmin Electric Factory also prioritizes production innovation, focusing on serving national strategies.

Xu Ruizhong introduced that the company currently has two main research and development directions: one is serving renewable energy, and the other is serving smart grids. He used the example of the 20Hz low-frequency, high-voltage universal circuit breaker independently developed by Shanghai Renmin Electric Factory: "We reduced the traditional power grid's transmission frequency from 50 Hz to 20 Hz. By lowering the transmission frequency, we reduce 'transmission resistance,' thereby increasing the transmission capacity, distance, and efficiency."

He mentioned that low-frequency flexible power transmission technology will have greater application potential in the future, as this technology offers significant economic advantages compared to existing power frequency AC and DC transmission in scenarios like large-scale offshore wind

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